Things To Consider Before Arranging A Mortgage

If you are thinking of buying a property in Northern Ireland then you will no doubt know that getting a mortgage is the most integral step. Of course, arranging finance to buy a house for sale in Londonderry, Belfast or wherever is an incredibly important decision so it is vital that you take the time to consider a number of things beforehand.

By far the most important thing to consider in this respect is whether you can actually afford to buy. It is imperative that you don’t interpret this as ‘will I have enough money to buy’ as you need to ensure that the property you purchase will not cost so much that it will leave you living in total poverty, unable to do anything or go anywhere because you’ve over extended yourself.

With this in mind, it is vital that you put together an accurate budget that will clearly illustrate all of your costs – this will show you how much you can realistically afford and hopefully stop you from being tempted to bite off more than you can chew.

So how do you go about this?

Well, start off by drawing a line down the middle of a blank sheet of paper. This will create two columns; at the top of the first column write ‘Income’ and at the top of the second column write ‘Outgoings’.

Next, enter your everyday ins and outs – wages, food shopping, petrol, credit card payments, etc – into the relevant columns. Once you have finished with your everyday amounts, add on estimated mortgage payments, insurance payments, rates payments and electricity payments.

Now look hard at the information in front of you and ask yourself a simple question: ‘Can I truly afford to buy properties for sale in Northern Ireland?’

Be honest with your answer!

If you do decide to make a mortgage application then you need to be prepared for the fact that your proposed lender will insist on carrying out an affordability assessment. In the past, these assessments were derived mostly from income multiples and typically allowed successful applicants to borrow three times their annual income.

This is no longer the case.

Indeed, most lenders these days now assess what level of mortgage payments you can afford to pay after taking into account your personal expenses as well as your income. In addition, most lenders also look at the impact of future interest rate rises as they will restrict how much you can borrow if they think you won’t be able to afford your mortgage payments if rates go up.

Although this may seem a little more draconic than the casual finance days of the past, it is actually a very sensible approach – after all, it is good to know what your exact outgoings are compared to your earnings.

So don’t start looking round every Belfast estate agents you can find just yet; make sure you do your sums and work out what you can truly afford first.

or you can call our office any time and ask us any questions you want… we are here to help!!

 

How to Stay Within Budget When Buying a New Home

Everyone wants to be able to buy their own home, and when the opportunity arises it is easy to go a little crazy with your finances. Fortunately, you can easily avoid many potential money problems by following a few simple steps. First of all, seek out independent mortgage Northern Ireland advice and work out what your budget is for buying a property. Agree on an upper limit and do not go over it. If you see a property which you really like but it is a few thousand over the asking price that you can afford, you can always put in a slightly lower offer and see if it is accepted.

When buying a property, you also have to factor in costs such as legal advice and insurance fees. Estate agents Northern Ireland are ready and waiting to sell you properties and if they can’t answer your questions they will know someone who can. It’s worth having a chat with an estate agent about properties for sale in Northern Ireland, as they will know exactly what is going on in the current housing market. Don’t ever feel pressurised into paying for something that you cannot afford, as signing up to a contract which is only going to get broken in the long term is in nobody’s interests. There will be something to suit your budget and requirements available somewhere on the market, so don’t make panic decisions.

Once you have bought a house you will no doubt want to decorate it. This is where it is really easy to lose track of your budget. Be sensible though, as there are plenty of ways of cutting costs when decorating your dream home. First of all, if you need certain types of furniture or household appliances, you could always look online at sites such as Freegle and Freecycle where people advertise their unwanted goods for free.  This can be a great way of sourcing furniture which you can transform into a shabby chic style.

When it comes to artwork, don’t spend thousands on paintings which you cannot afford. Invest in a few cheap pictures frames and put some of your favourite wrapping paper in them. They will look great on your walls and really brighten a place up. Alternatively, have a look around the local charity shops to see if you find some hidden gems, or go to an exhibition held by local art students who are selling their original works at cheap prices.

If the carpets are looking a little threadbare in your new home and you have to save up for new ones, see if you can get hold of a rug which will break up the pattern of the room. Similarly, if your sofa is looking a little tired it can be easily transformed by using a cosy throw to cover it. There are plenty of household tips available on the Internet which aim to save you money. Buy the house of your dreams without going over your budget.

Source: http://www.firsttimebuyerni.com

FTB? Things to consider!!!

Financial Considerations for First Time Buyers in Northern Ireland

Despite the fact Northern Ireland estate agents are increasingly optimistic about the outlook of the housing market, getting your foot on the first rung of the property ladder can still be something of an uphill struggle. Therefore we here at First Time Buyer NI thought we would share some of our expertise and provide you with a brief guide to some of the more vital financial concerns which you will need to consider when buying property for the first time.

Be Realistic about What you can Afford
The single most important thing to consider when buying your first home is whether or not you will honestly be able to afford it. After all, you won’t want to end up living in poverty (or as a recluse) simply because your clouded judgement made you over extended yourself and left you unable to afford anything other than the mortgage and bills. When buying a home for the first time, it is imperative that you create an accurate budget that will show all of your costs as this will let you know exactly how much you can realistically afford.

Get Saving for a Deposit
Now that the prices of properties for sale in Northern Ireland are stabilising, mortgage lenders in the province are being more prudent about who they’re willing to lend to. Indeed, the latest figures suggest that the average deposit required for a mortgage in the province is now a whopping 20% of the house value. This means that first-time buyers in Northern Ireland are on average saving around £17,000 as a deposit to buy a house worth around £85,000. The fact is, 100% mortgages are very much a thing of the past. So, if you want buy a house, you’ll need to get saving – the larger the deposit you can save, the cheaper your mortgage will be.

Don’t Forget your Other Costs
As well as your deposit, you will also need to think about the other additional costs which are likely to be incurred when buying your first home. For example, things like mortgage arrangement and valuation fees, Stamp Duty, solicitor’s fees, survey costs, removal costs, and initial furnishing and decorating costs all add up so you will need to make sure you have enough in the bank (or coming in from elsewhere) to cover them.

Consider Getting Someone to Guarantee your Mortgage
If you’re desperate to buy a house for sale in Londonderry, Belfast or beyond, but are really struggling to get a mortgage, you may want to consider a guarantor mortgage. In essence, this involves getting a parent, guardian or close relative to be liable for the mortgage payments in the event that you become unable to pay them. Although these arrangements may seem like an ideal solution when you’re hard up, they shouldn’t be entered into lightly.

Of course, these are just a few of the things you will need to consider. To learn more, call 028 9047 1401.

References:
1. http://www.firsttimebuyerni.com/mortgages/
2. https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/first-time-buyer-money-tips

First Time Buyer market on the UP!!!!

Lending to first-time buyers increased by 3% in February, making it the busiest start to a year for people joining the property ladder since 2008.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said those who had never owned a property before were continuing to take advantage of more favourable market conditions, with a total of 16,400 loans made to first-time buyers in February. The figure is 17% higher than the 14,000 in February 2012.

First-time buyers accounted for 43% of all house purchase loans in February – the sixth consecutive month that this proportion has been at or above 40%. The data comes as George Osborne targets first-time buyers with his Help to Buy scheme, which was announced in last month’s budget and is designed to bolster the mortgage market through loan guarantees and support for acquiring new-build homes.

The CML director general, said: “We hope the new initiatives announced by the government in the 2013 budget will further stimulate first-time buyer activity, but also help those ‘second steppers’ looking to move into a new or existing home.”

The Funding for Lending scheme, under which the Bank of England backs loan to small businesses and homebuyers, has also received credit for renewing confidence in the housing market.

Speaking to Mortgage brokers and estate agents it is clear they have seen increased interest and confidence from buyers and sellers since the start of the year.  Hopefully this is the start of the hugely important First Time Buyer market in NI getting back to the heights that it should be at! And that is were we come in, any queries on any matter just drop us a line on 02890 471401, we are happy to help.

this crazy weather in Norn Iron

so i was speaking to a friend last week who is a tree surgeon type. he was telling me that last year on st patricks day he got his ‘sunroof’ aka bald spot, burnt to a crisp while out pruning some trees; whereas this year, his ears got frost bitten and he had to borrow his sons ear muffs for survival (ok a little bit dramatic)…

So when will our spring ever arrive? and what does it actually mean to those estate agents who are hoping for better times ahead, with the advent of the lighter nights & better temperatures, more people are inclined to drive about of an evening or weekend & dream about where they want to live – we have all done it; driving the streets on a nice evening in April or May looking at the areas we wish to live in, supposing what it would be like to move house and live in our dream abode.

But this wont be happening any time soon, at the weekend all i did was put the fire on, lock the door, tutt impatiently for the tardy pizza delivery man and surf the net for a new pair of bermuda shorts to go on holiday in.

So will this inclement weather affect the sales of properties, the building of new properties and developments? well only time will tell, but with the advent of great online portals (first time buyer ni .com springs to mind 😉   ) allowing you to surf the property market now, hopefully Agents and Developers will still be able to sell their properties and more importantly from our point of view get First Time Buyers back onto the property market!!

What are the important insurances to take out when buying a first home?

Well, this depends on a lot of factors, but to keep this brief, I will tell you what the norm is….
One insurance that lenders will insist on is something called ‘Building and contents Insurance’ which protects you should something happen to the house; so a flood, a fire and so on, this would kick in and pay you out. Lenders insist on this as at the end of the day, they are lending you money to buy a house that they have a significant interest in until you pay their loan off, so they want security that if something happens to the house, there is something in place to fix this occurrence.

We should have the same outlook, and that is why other insurances are important. most people also take out mortgage cover (or decreasing term assurance) which covers the mortgage debt, should something bad happen to you and / or your partner…. this gives piece of mind for family members that are left behind, that there is no debt to look after on a house….
But should this really be the norm? lets be honest most young people; if the worst happens dont care that the bank will take their home off them and sell it to get their money back… that is their right and they are happy with that; they wont be around to see it so who cares  – right? Pretty accurate, yes, I would say though if you can afford this type of insurance then we would encourage you to take it out, but this is much more important in the next stage of life when you have dependents, then you really want to make sure they are protected!
But what about if you lost your job or were off work sick / injured? How would you pay your mortgage, your rates bill, and so on…. An income protection(IP) policy protects you against these eventualities…. and some reckon an IP policy to be much more important for the first time buyer, to know that they will get an income if they are ill or lose their job, it feels much more real (and perhaps more likely to happen in todays climate).
There is much more to it, but having it in your head to speak to someone about these things independently is the first step.

So when buying a first home, be sure to know all of the insurances that could be right for you. Most are relatively inexpensive but give you great piece of mind, for the biggest purchase of your life!!
Always make sure you speak to an adviser, who can look at what would be best for your own personal circumstances. Someone independent from your bank or building society and at  Firsttimebuyerni com we have are very own team of advisers at hand to talk you through the best steps for you.

Advertising on our website

We are building up our advertisements on the website now and aim by Q2 next year to have the site fully loaded with all the adverts needed to make it as comprehensive as can be.

The more advertisers we have on the better as it gives the FTB a much better service, giving them the ability to come to one website and get information, a pick of houses, professional service details, as well as links through to other useful companies that could be needed when buying their first home.

We have excellent competitive packages for those companies that come on with us now, so if you think that your buisiness alines well with what we are trying to do, please drop us a line and one of the sales team can come out and see you / call you to discusee your options further.

we have opportunitites for advertisers on the Home pages, as well as the property / development pages. Not to mention the space available for Solicitors and other professionals on our ‘lifestyle’ section.  Get in touch by emailing info@firsttimebuyerni.com or call our office on 02890 471401

 

First time buyers drive October growth in valuations

As stated in the follwing article ‘a comforting glimmer of hope’, lets hope so, because the first time buyer market has always fed everything else: whether it is moving on, downsizing, spending in areas like furnishing or services, they drive all of this. Then there is the constrcution industry that needs fed by the new homes that NEED to be built. FTB’s affect EVERYTHING!!

We need the first time buyers to drive things….. lets do MORE to stimulate this massively important market space!!!

READ THE ARTICLE HERE: First time buyers drive October growth in vals – Industry in depth – Mortgage Introducer UK.

The Ulster Bank MOMENTUM MORTGAGE, not bad, not bad at all…

The Ulster Banks Momentum mortgage product could be the type og thing that starts the first time buyer revolution.

Well, maybe revluutions a bit much, but something needs to happen. 31 year olds are still living with their parents. no one wants this. Especially the parents.

But with momentum you can, by chosing a development that they have approved for this scheme,  not have to pay any deposit, the developers pays it for you!

And with some other great features, like reducing the mortgage amoun tif your property valuation drops it is definitley worth a look.

We can help you understand this and the many other mortgage products available to you, in a simple straight fowrads manner. just ask.

Honestly, we are here to help.

Al

Do you want to advertise on our ‘relaunching’

www.firsttimebuyerni.com is getting ready to relaunch and we are going to be bigger and better, with more properties, more developments and more information than ever before on the site. it will be social, it will be interesting, it will be current.

If you are an estate agent and would like to add your proprerties onto the site, then please do not hesitate to contact us on 02890 471401, it is free for agents to put their properties and developments onto our site.

If you are a local business and want to advertise your business that is relevant to our taregt market (and lets be honest that can be anything) then please give us a call or drop us an email on info@firsttimebuyerni.com . The guys are doing some cracking deals for businesses for the first 6 months.